How to finish the back of leather and many other questions

[z0rthr4x]

Hello. I am so glad to have found your forum!

I am working on a hand-stitched veggie tanned leather belt after first marking & then hand punching over 700 holes I am at a standstill. The front of the leather I have cased, distressed, applied olive oil to, beveled edges & lightly burnished. My questions are as follows;

Before I start stitching is what is the best way to burnish or mat down the back of the leather the non-flesh side I think? I was going to try saddle soap & lightly burnish the backside but I didn't want to risk it.....

Is there a cleaner way to do the stitching rather than crossing over the two half suns (see prototype picture) without having to do each half sun individually?

Is there an eaiser way to punch the ammount of holes that I punched inexpensively / quickly without all of the grueling labor / crazy measuring? I made a template for this one but it took forever with the wing divider rulers etc to get this perfect & I would like to do more in the future.

Also the person I am making this for decided they wanted a removeable buckle after I had already cut the strap for riveting together and punched all of those holes, any suggestions on the snaps? I have line 24 & 20's the twenty's aren't long enough to go through the leather and the 24's I'm afraid will be to big for the ammount of space I have to work with.... any suggestions on this one?

My last question and thank you all for listening is;

I use an old rough sock & water to burnish my edges but sometimes it takes a lot of elbow grease & way too much time, I was going to invest in an edge slicker I have read through the forums about edge slicking, but wanted your opinions on the best brand of slicker for the best smoothest, shinest, and the most professional looking edges possible. Do you use water with a slicker as well?

I have uploaded a few pictures of the project including the prototype.

Thank you so much for your help with these matters I will be very grateful to anyone with a professionals insight.

~ z

Edited April 20, 2008 by z0rthr4x

[rdb]

What you have is a bad piece of leather, probably cut from the belly side, or just not done at a good tannery.

It happens sometimes, and you have to make the best of it. Saddle soap and burnishing might slick down a medium roughness, but I doubt that shaggy back will take that well.

I would suggest swabbing some gum tragacanth, letting it set up 10 minutes or so, and then slick it down with a flat bone folder or some such.

Others may have better suggestions, but that's a general fix.

It looks like it's gonna be a sharp belt, and the shaggy might just go with the look, so maybe do nothing.

[z0rthr4x]

Thank you for your quick response! That's unfortunate to hear, I only paid $8 for the strap & it was 55" when I first got it, but I wouldn't have thought that my leather guy would lead me astray like that : ( He's helped me with everything I know thus far. I hope the belt turns out ok, this project turned into a pain in the neck pretty quickly, but it's a learning experience. What is a flat bone folder by the way? Any other suggestions guys? Thank you for your time.

Edited April 20, 2008 by z0rthr4x

[rdb]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. It really doesn't affect the strength or durability, it's just a visual thing. And like I said, it could fit the look overall. Hey, for that matter, it's a plus...it's a natural piece of hide.

[Jordan]

wood or plastic 3/4 to 1" wide 1/4" approx. thick and 5 or 6" long rounded over on all edges and alittle thinner on one end. Has to be very smooth or it will telegraph the imperfections to the leather. I had good results with the shaggy side by wetting the strap and using a belt sander with worn down grit. Lightly pull the strap off the end of the sander a few times in one direction it removed some and burnished the rest. Experimentation is about the only way to find what works for you.

[z0rthr4x]

I don't think that it looks horrible either to me it looks like a piece of hide as well but it's not for me & I've never seen such a shaggy belt strap before, so I am pretty sure that the person I am making it for would notice. I will experiment with my not as shaggy small prototype piece before I do anything to that belt. I don't have a belt sander. I'm pretty good with the skiver but it was too uneven for my tastes. I am starting to realize that I am to much of a perfectionist when it comes to leather craft. I will try the gum tragacanth, I think that the saddle soap will make the back all greasy but I'm not entirely sure.

[TwinOaks]

For your removable buckle, have you considered using 'chicago screws' in lieu of rivets? They're also known as "threaded post fasteners" at somewhere like Lowe's and Home Depot. There's lots of styles available, and the only caution I'd give about them is to place the smooth head (female half of the fastener) to the 'inside' so that the slot on the other half doesn't tear up any clothing. Once the end of the belt is through the buckle, it'll cover the screws completely.

As for the shaggy leather, I had it happen with a holster. So, while having lemons, I made lemonade! I turned it into a rough out holster, and sanded it until my arms burned. Then...I read about burnishing it down so I did that too. You may want to consider putting a thin liner on the back of the belt if you can't get all the strands to lay down like you want. Get some glazed pig skins, cut your strips, then glue down, followed by a stitch line.

[z0rthr4x]

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond! I sanded the back in one direction with 400 grit sandpaper & that seemed to do the trick. I got some screw posts ty twinoaks good thinking, it never crossed my mind. I'll post the finished belt in the show off section when it's complete. Thanks again!

~z